Ahmad Bradshaw says things would have been different if he played

Posted by Josh Alper on December 17, 2012, 3:39 PM EDT

AP

Most of the Giants are spending the day going over their mistakes in Sunday’s 34-0 loss in Atlanta.

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw is one of the few Giants who isn’t in that position. Bradshaw didn’t play because of a sprained knee suffered in Week 14 against the Saints and Jenny Vrentas of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that he said Monday that “a lot of things would have been different” if he was in the lineup.

Things would have been different, but we’re not sure the winner and loser are among them. The Giants were down 7-0 after running two offensive plays, David Wilson had a 25-yard run to help set up an early field goal attempt that Lawrence Tynes missed and it was 17-0 in the second quarter after Eli Manning’s second interception led to a Falcons field goal. The Giants did fail on three fourth down conversion attempts, but one was a pass and the third came when the score was already 24-0. Wilson ran the ball on the first of the tries, but got stuffed by a host of Falcons who had pushed the offensive line straight back at the snap of the ball.

We obviously can’t know if Bradshaw’s presence would have changed the outcome and don’t begrudge him for feeling that way, but the Giants’ problems went far beyond anything having to do with the running game.

Bradshaw said he plans to play this weekend, but admitted that he felt the same way last week before being scratched. That means we’ll have to keep an eye on the practice reports this week to see if Bradshaw will be a difference maker in Baltimore.

Even so, if he’s one week healthier, they were better off not playing him. Even having Adrian Peterson in the lineup yesterday might not have made a difference with the way the rest of the team played.

Giants fan here, We could have had Barry Sanders, Emmit Smith, Walter Peyton ETC and we still would have lost. No pressure from the D-Line, no coverage in the secondary. Honestly I am getting sick and tired of our players running thier mouths before we prove anything. Shut the front door until you do something.

We wouldn’t have won, but he’s right that it would have been different. Like it or not because of who he is as a runningback, AB is the vocal leader of this offense like Rolle is for the defense. Neither are the best player on their units but it doesn’t matter. AB would have forced the Giants to at least compete instead of getting flat-out steamrolled.